Anna, hello.
> On 2015 Jan 5, at 21:53, Anna Clements <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> What is the situation wrt ownership of research data collected by PhD students?
>
> Given students aren't employees then are they still covered by an IPR policy that states employer (i.e. University) owns the data collected
My recollection is that, since PhD students are students and not being paid by the university (indeed typically quite the reverse) then the work they do is not 'work for hire', and the university has no rights to it.
I imagine there are a few subtleties (for example when the student is on a university scholarship, or is funded by being given a junior RA post), but on the occasion where this came up in discussion, the uncertainty was at least enough for us to avoid using PhD students on a particular project with an external party.
I don't have chapter and verse, but I imagine the university 'knowledge transfer' people (or whatever they're called with you) will have thought about this in detail. I'd be curious to know what the subtleties are, if you are able to follow this up.
> (although they may choose to waive these rights as in the case for journal articles, for example).
It's a tangent, but my somewhat vaguer recollection here is that the university typically doesn't _waive_ anything, as such, but instead conventionally gives academics the authority to transfer the _university's_ copyright to the journal if required.
All the best,
Norman
--
Norman Gray : http://nxg.me.uk
SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, UK
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